FALLBROOK NONPROFIT MAKING STRIDES

An out-of-state connection is poised to pay off for one of Fallbrook’s oldest nonprofit organizations, as thousands of runners and walkers lace up for the Color In Motion 5K at Qualcomm Stadium today.

In a coup for the Boys & Girls Clubs of North County, organizers of this weekend’s event in San Diego sought out the Ivy Street club to be its “charity partner,” which will translate into exposure and a fundraising sum, Resource Development Director Melissa Brown told me on Wednesday.

Brown explained that Color In Motion is based in Utah, where chief professional officer Allison Barclay lived and worked before arriving in Fallbrook last year.

“They knew she was in San Diego — they weren’t sure exactly where, but they were looking for a charity,” Brown said.

“We were very fortunate they came to us, because we don’t get the opportunity that often to be a part of a big event like this,” she added. “This will provide more exposure and support from the San Diego community for our club.”

In an era of themed endurance events — keep an eye out for “mud runs” and nighttime sprints — today’s run is characterized by color. Participants start in clean clothes and end up dusted with biodegradable, colored powder.

As for the club staff, Brown told me, “We will be working the event, and most of us will be there.”

In fact, some of those who help run the club will be among the 5,000 expected to participate: As of Wednesday, board members Becky Schmad, Dannai Mungo, Deb Zoller, Siegrid Stillman and Donna Reisbeck-Stoewer — the club’s former interim director — were committed not just to showing up, but also covering the roughly three-mile route on foot.

Mentors sought: After taking a break for the summer, a local mentoring group is hoping to add at least eight new adult volunteers to its roster.

Known as “Guide, Advise, Nurture, and Support,” or GANAS, the program is entering its eighth season in Fallbrook, after its founding by Pat Braendel of the Fallbrook Citizens’ Crime Prevention Committee.

Braendel had been hosting community meetings for years, focusing on problems like drug use and violent crime, when she decided to open a new front in her battle for some of downtown Fallbrook’s rougher neighborhoods.

GANAS mentors, who must submit to background checks and fingerprinting, reach vulnerable kids between the ages of 9 and 14 in local low-income apartment complexes, Braendel said.

“We have to come up with about eight to 12 mentors — there’s a minimum we can get by with, and we can’t continue unless we find them,” she told me on Wednesday.

The program began at the Summer Ridge Apartments off East Alvarado Street, and Braendel said there have been lasting benefits since that first year.

“Two of the (original kids) have gone on to found their own nonprofits … to discourage alcohol and drug use,” she said. “Mentoring in the community comes back very positive for all of us.”

To encourage participation, Braendel is hosting a recruiting open house at Fallbrook Coffee Co., 622 S. Mission Road, from 3 to 6 p.m. Wednesday. For more information, call Patsy Loughboro at (760) 728-6918 or Pat Braendel at (760) 731-9127.